Concrete walls are usually constructed by erecting form panels in parallel spaced relationship, and then pouring concrete in the space between the forms. A wide variety of structural designs have been developed for these forms, with the design details being influenced by the amount of repeated use of the form sections and the method of securing and handling them. The securing of these forms in spaced relationship as the concrete is poured represents the most serious problem to the form designer. The newly poured concrete generates a pressure of around one hundred and sixty pounds per square foot per foot of height of the pour, and this is usually handled by providing tie systems that traverse the space between the forms, and are connected to the form structure with fastenings having the ability to transfer the extremely heavy forces that are concentrated at these ties from the distributed forces over the forming face that confines the concrete.
One of the most effective types of tie systems involves the use of a tie rod that remains embedded in the poured concrete, and is connected at its opposite ends to a bolt secured in one of a number of possible ways to the form structure. The forms are "stripped" from the set concrete by removing these bolts, and thus freeing the forms for removal and replacement. The forms that are frequently reused are usually made of metal, and the design of forms with metal frames that are adapted for the bolt-type tie systems has presented rather difficult problems in providing for the stress concentration at the points of transfer of the distributed pressure forces to the tie components. My co-pending application Ser. No. 845,080 filed Oct. 25, 1977 and now U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,975 describes and claims a type of metal form having edge discontinuities for receiving the bolt components of such tie systems, and provides also for the transfer of the primary pressure forces by a cross pin bearing against the outer edge of the marginal frame members of the form. Light cross pins are shown used (in conjunction with the primary load cross pins) for maintaining initial form spacing prior to pouring. It is often desirable to change or replace the form panels themselves, or to incorporate various irregularities in the forming surface to provide corresponding design configurations in the surface of the wall. With this in mind, it is useful to have the metal frames of the forms adapted to receive and support replaceable plywood panels.
The use of relatively small form sections secured edge-to-edge makes it possible to reduce the size and weight of the individual units to the point that they can be handled manually. The resulting number of these emphasizes the importance of making them readily capable of assembly and disassembly. This, in turn, establishes the importance of a convenient storage position of the forms, and for some manner of retaining the bolt elements of the tie system when the forms are not in use. These have normally been tossed into a bin, and then recovered at some later time and carried to the point of erection of the forms. The forms themselves have commonly been stacked in a manner such that the forming face is relatively vulnerable to damage from the stacking procedure. The present invention is directed particularly at these problems.